Top Ten Gene Kelly Dance Numbers

 

On this, the day of Gene Kelly's birth, I was surprised to find I have never dedicated an entire post to this dreamy dancer. Sure, I've written about him in many posts on other topics, but it's time he gets his very own!

Gene Kelly was one of the first classic stars I was introduced to as a young child. My grandma showed For Me and My Gal to my cousins and I and we were hooked! It's hard to beat a good Gene Kelly dance number. He's handsome and athletic and everything you could want.

So without further ado, here are my top ten Gene Kelly dance numbers.

10. The Worry Song from Anchors Aweigh. Dancing with cartoon Jerry, pretty impressive.

9. You Wonderful You from Summer Stock. When he's dancing by himself in the barn with the newspaper.

8. Good Morning from Singin' in the Rain. Beware: There's going to be a lot of Singin' in the Rain in this list.

7. Singin' in the Rain from Singin' in the Rain. Obviously.

6. For Me and My Gal from For Me and My Gal. Those two are so cute together.

4. Moses Supposes from Singin' in the Rain.

3. Broadway Melody from Singin' in the Rain. Specifically, the part with Cyd Charisse in the green dress. When he flips his head back and knocks his hat off? It never gets old.

2. Ballin' the Jack from For Me and My Gal. This was always my favorite as a kid and I still love watching it!

1. The Portland Fancy from Summer Stock. I realize this may be an unconventional choice, but it's the best. Deal with it.

Kids and Movies and Reality, OH MY

As you may know, I've been spending a lot of time watching movies with my kids lately. Some are old, some are new, some are in-between but there is one thing that's become clear through all of them: My kids are very confused about reality.

I really thought we were getting past this. I expect my 5 year old to still get confused, but the 8 and 10 year olds? I'm certain we've gone over this multiple times, and yet, we still have some strange, confusing conversations during movies. 

It doesn't matter if it's Jurassic Park or a fabulous Judy Garland movie, the conversations are shockingly similar. They go something like this:

 

Child: Mom, is this real?

Me: No, it's a movie.

Child: Ok, but did this really happen?

Me: Well, no, dinosaurs never existed at the same time as people. (Or, no, people don't break out into song in the middle of random conversations. Or, no, there's not money buried under a giant W. Or, no, there's not an eccentric man living in a submarine getting attacked by a giant squid.)

Child: Ok, but are the people real?

Me: The characters are made up.

Child: Ok, but are they real people?

Me: Well, the actors are real people.

Child: So did the people actually DO this?

Me: Well...the actors...acted it out...yes.

Child: So this is real?

 

And don't even get me started on movies that are based on a true story.

Old Movies With Kids: In the Good Old Summertime

In honor of Judy Garland's 100th birthday, I made the family watch In the Good Old Summertime. I've written about this movie a number of times, but it had been some years since I've watched it. 

This one just never disappoints. It has humor, songs, romance, excessive arm flapping.  What more can you ask for?

It's also right in the middle of one of the best trifecta movie remake series...es in history.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. The kids were lukewarm on it. It unfortunately is missing some of the bigger song and dance numbers we get in most Judy movies, except for the arm flapping in I Don't Care which always made me laugh as a kid and did the same for my own kids!

From the Kids:

10 year old girl: 3 stars

8 year old boy: 1 star

5 year old girl: 4 stars

As usual, my son did not enjoy this movie as he is determined to reject ALL old movies except Singin' in the Rain.

The girls liked the songs, especially the one when Judy plays the harp.

They also got a kick out of Van Johnson's made-up unattractive Newspickle fellow.

100 Years of Judy Garland

In case you haven't heard, Friday, June 10, 2022 is Judy Garland's 100th birthday! I will likely be celebrating by forcing my husband and children to watch a Judy movie. Perhaps Summer Stock. Or In the Good Old Summertime. Or Harvey Girls! It's going to be hard to pick.

I was pleased to see the Gene Siskel Film center is showing a number of Judy films this summer. I'm debating if it's worth it to spend the time and money to get downtown to catch a showing but how often do I get the opportunity to see these movies in a theater?? It's tempting for sure!

In Judy's honor, here's a roundup of past posts:

• Judy birthday posts from birthdays past
• Such an Interesting Mixture of Poetry and Meanness
• Top Ten Judy Garland Movies
• Judy + Mickey
• Judy on Life
• Me + Judy's Dress 
• Old Movies with Kids: Easter Parade 
  

How will you be celebrating Judy's 100th birthday?

Old Movies With Kids: Singin' In the Rain AKA The One My Son Likes

So it's been some months now since I started regularly watching old movies with my kids and you would think my son has straight up been TORTURED every time. He sort of liked 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea but since then, it's been rough for him--apparently he's hated every movie we've watched.

So I was pleasantly surprised when he actually asked to watch Singin' In the Rain. Maybe this is cheating because this was not his first viewing of this film. We've watched it on a number of occasions including in the theater (splendid!), but how can I say no to the old movie he's actually asking to watch?

 

I know that the main reason he likes it is Make 'Em Laugh, which does indeed make him laugh. But he seems to actually enjoy the rest of the film as well.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. Singin' In the Rain never disappoints. It truly has it all. Humor that actually holds up almost 70 years later, plus great music and dancing. It's just wonderful from start to finish!

I tried to impress the kids with my trivia the Debbie Reynolds is Princess Leia's mom, but they didn't seem impressed. I'm going to pretend that it's because they just don't care about Star Wars that much and not because they just don't care about my trivia that much.

From the kids:

10 year old girl - 4 stars

4 year old girl - 3 stars

8 year old boys - 3 stars

Kids' favorite moments:

Too many to choose!

Make 'em Laugh - everyone's favorite!

Broadway Melody for its moving sidewalk and colorful ending

Top 10 Classic Dance Numbers Featuring Props and/or Special Effects

Last weekend, when we watched Easter Parade with the kids, I was faced with my shameful lack of classic movie parenting skills when the children were confused by Fred Astaire's solo dance number to Steppin' Out With My Baby. They couldn't figure out where Judy was or why he was doing this dance with a bunch of other people randomly in the middle of the movie. Naturally, I had to explain to them how most of these old musicals have the big climactic dance scene, typically featuring Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly using some sort of prop or special effect. Clearly, I need to watch more of these with the kids!

But that got me thinking about all my favorite big climactic dance numbers. I can imagine how fun it would have been for 1940's me to show up at the movie theater and wait with anticipation through most of the film for the big moment. There are so many good ones! 

 So here are my top 10 favorite dance numbers featuring a prop or special effect:

10. Gene and the trash can lids. So creative and I'm sure I would have seriously injured myself attempting such a thing.

9. Fred and the hat rack. Simple and wonderful.

8. Fred and the shoes. If you're into disembodied feet, this is the one for you.

7. Gene and the newspaper. Listen, we all know that the Portland Fancy is the best dance number in Summer Stock, but Gene is adorable here with his newspaper.

6. Donald and the dummy. And the wood plank. And the brick wall. And the hat. This one does make my son laugh!

5. Gene and Jerry. High tech.

4. Fred and the slo-mo. Lots going on in this one!

3. Gene and the rain. Obviously.

2. Fred on the ceiling. Mesmerizing. I could watch this all day.

1. Gene and Cyd and ... the hat? Ok this one maybe doesn't have a stand out prop or special effect but there's a hat. Glasses? The guy flipping his coin? Anyway, it's just my favorite dance scene ever. What does it have to do with the rest of the movie? Basically nothing. But we know these guys (Fred and Gene) need their moment to shine and this takes the cake!

I know this is not a comprehensive list at all. What are your favorites?

Old Movies With Kids: Easter Parade

Well, it's Easter weekend so of course, I had to make sure the kids watched Easter Parade!

If it wasn't already obvious, Judy Garland is pretty much my favorite. I've written about Easter Parade before and all of my opinions there still stand.

This film features a stressful love square, the less common relative of the love triangle. These people just go around in circles. It would have all easily been solved if Judy had just gone for the much more handsome and debonair Peter Lawford. But no, it has to be Fred. And poor Peter Lawford is stuck with Nadine who's been awkwardly chasing him through the entire movie.

A major debate came up during our viewing: Does Peter Lawford have a British accent? I say he obviously does. My husband doesn't think so at all and my 10 year old daughter agreed with him, though I don't necessarily trust her opinion. He was born in London, but spent time in many different countries. Nonetheless, IT'S SO OBVIOUS THAT HE HAS A BRITISH ACCENT. I don't even understand how this is a debate!

From the kids

10 year old girl - 4 stars

8 year old boy - 0 stars - "Boo"

5 year old girl - 3 stars

Clearly, my son was not into this movie. It seems he's becoming more adverse to old movies the more we watch them. Bad news for him: We're not going to stop watching them.

The girls liked Judy Garland, of course! They really enjoyed the songs and dancing, especially Fred Astaire dancing in slow motion. 

Me + Judy's Dress

I was going through some old photos and came across a major life event that I almost forgot about!

Back in 2019, the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis acquired Judy Garland's red velvet dress from Meet Me in St. Louis and added it as a very temporary feature in their World's Fair exhibit. 

Lucky for me, my in-laws live in southern Illinois and we often make a detour over to St. Louis on our way down to visit them after Christmas. Obviously, we couldn't miss Judy's dress!

It was pretty cool to see it up close and in person. As expected it was tiny to fit on a tiny Judy. It showed its age but it was still beautiful!

My daughter was super excited, as you can see.

I basically fit in it as long as I'm standing 3 feet behind it!

Even without the dress, we really enjoyed our visit to this museum. It's worth checking out if you're ever in the area. The World's Fair exhibit is very cool with some hands-on stuff for the kids!

Old Movies With Kids: Oklahoma!

After celebrating Shirley Jones on her birthday the other day, I was in the mood for a Shirley movie. The Music Man is always a favorite, but it had been so long since I'd watched Oklahoma, it was time for a viewing. Also nobody else in my family had seen it before!

Guys, I enjoyed this movie so much. Maybe it's just because I haven't been watching musicals at the rate I once did pre-kids, but it made me so happy. The songs are all winners, the characters are entertaining, and it's just a good time!

You know what this movie loves? Sexual innuendo! Good thing my kids are too young to pick up on any of it. In a movie that could feel so old fashioned and traditional, it's refreshing that the women have moments of both strength and weakness and don’t always fill traditional female roles.

I especially loved the line at the end when Laurey is lamenting her traumatic wedding night and Aunt Eller wisely tells her, "Oh, lots of things happen to folks." So simple and so true!

But you know what's super weird? When Curly suggests that Judd kill himself and sings a song about it. I mean...what? Is this something people do? I get it that Judd is a creep but this very unveiled attempt to convince him to hang himself is a little excessive. I'd probably try to stab Curly with my naughty girly knife toy too.

Why you tryna kill me?

From the kids

Unfortunately, my kids weren't super into this movie. I'm not sure they knew half of what was going on which might be a good thing.

10 year old girl - 3.5 stars

8 year old boy - 0 stars. Too much kissing

5 year old girl - 3 stars

The girls liked the songs and especially loved the wedding, but that was about all any of them seemed to get out of it! My 10 year old and I very much enjoyed the sing-a-long feature on the DVD. 

Sooo this might not be one that we watch again for awhile, but I think we are going to be watching musicals for our next few films because they’re just the best! My son will be thrilled.

Old Movies With Kids: 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

Over the weekend we showed the kids the classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I hadn't seen this one before and I wasn't particularly excited about it, but I'm happy to say I think we finally found one that my son likes!

This is the first Kirk Douglas movie I've ever seen, but I think we can all agree that Peter Lorre is the best part of this movie. I mean, isn't he the best part of any movie he's in? Yes. Nonetheless, all the characters were interesting and the story was exciting and kept everyone's attention.

Also, this is basically the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie. There's a boozy, kind of obnoxious sailor with a theme song, an island with cannibals, and, most importantly, a rockin' captain who clearly has deeply buried emotional issues and dramatically plays the organ instead of expressing his feelings. (My husband would like me to mention that the organ from this movie is currently in the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. So ... there ya go.)

From the kids

3 stars - It was a little weird. Not my favorite movie. Not enough girls in it. - 10 year old girl

3 stars - 5 year old girl

4 stars. Good. - 8 year old boy

Kids' favorite moments:

The giant squid fight was a favorite across the board!

Explosions and fighting, specifically when Peter Lorre and Kirk Douglas were punching each other in the face. Hilarious!

Kirk Douglas's turtle guitar, especially when he stuffed jewelry in it. I have no recollection of this part!

New Rear Window Board Game Coming This Summer!

We play a lot of games in our house. As previously mentioned, we've really been enjoying this Willy Wonka Golden Ticket game with the kids. My husband is more into games than I am, BUT I got pretty excited when I heard that there's going to be a new game based on Rear Window coming out this summer!

We have a number of movie-based games, but this is the first one based on a really good classic film and it looks awesome. Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly are even on the front of the box! It's a cooperative game where you play as the characters in the film to solve a possible murder. Here's the official description:

Experience Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece Rear Window in this game of deduction and suspense. Carefully observe strange clues and ominous patterns in the things going on in the apartments across the way. There are parties, knives, a saw, bickering, laughing, music ... and a mysterious trunk. Do you detect a murder? Or is the secret, private world of the neighbors planting frightening ideas in your mind?

Everyone needs to buy this so that they keep making more!

Here are some of the other movie-based games we like:

Ravensburger Universal Back to The Future Game Strategy Game. My husband loves Back to The Future and I suppose it's getting close to classic movie status. I really enjoy this game. It's a little harder for our younger kids. There is another Back to The Future game, but we haven't tried that one.

Villianous. We kind of love this game even though it's probably more complicated than it needs to be. Pick a villian and do your worst. There are a bunch of expansions so you really have many options. Ursula is my favorite but I played as Cruelle DeVille the other day and she was pretty great too!

The Haunted Mansion - Call of The Spirits. Ok, maybe this isn't based on a movie, but it's a good one so I'm including it!

Happy gaming!

 

 

My Top 5 Spirit Characters

After watching Yours, Mine, and Ours last week and relating a little too closely to incessantly hungry Susan Beardsley, it got me thinking about my other spirit characters. Spoiler alert: they are not the leading ladies. I'm just not leading lady material.

Here are my top 5, though I'm sure there are many more!

1. Eulalie Mackechnie Shinn in The Music Man - The first time I laid eyes on this woman I knew she was everything I wanted to be in life. Honorable mention for Mayor Shinn who I also can't help but love. I mean,

Mrs. Shinn: Now, George!

Mayor Shinn: Not one poop out of you, Madame!

Mrs. Shinn: I think he means "peep"

Mayor Shinn: Yes!

2. Susan Beardsley from Yours, Mine, and Ours - As the inspiration for this list, it's only right that she's at the top. This girl does not miss an opportunity to stuff her face full of food. She's the best.

3. Miss Torso in Rear Window - 

    Ways she is NOT like me: She's fit enough to prance around baring her torso. She has an entourage of men courting her.

    Ways she IS like me: She's eating in every scene she's in. She ends up with the nice, nerdy fellow.

4. Agnes Smith from Meet Me In St. Louis - This is the often-overlooked second youngest daughter in the Smith family. She has a taste for chaos but nobody notices because they're too focused on Tootie being a drama queen.

5. Marjorie Main in Judy Garland movies (The Harvey Girls, Summer Stock, Meet Me in St. Louis) - I'm grouping these together since they're basically all the same character. She's a no-nonsense lady who accepts the fact that she's always a servant and likes to mess with everyone.

Who are your spirit characters?

Old Movies With Kids: Yours, Mine, and Ours - A.K.A. The Girl Who Ate Too Much

This week I subjected my children to one of my childhood favorites, Yours, Mine and Ours. I haven't watched this movie since I was a kid so I was pretty excited to watch it with them.

You know how sometimes you watch a movie that you haven't seen since you were a kid, and you realize there were a bunch of sex jokes that went over your head? Yeah, that happened. I suppose I can't call them sex jokes--maybe just innuendo. Very mild innuendo, but innuendo nonetheless. Mostly delivered by Van Johnson's character who's constantly trying to convince his widower buddy Frank (Henry Fonda) that he needs some lovin'. His hard work and determination pay off when Frank meets Helen (Lucille Ball) and they quickly get married and merge their two very large families.

The reason I liked this movie as a kid was primarily because of my love for Lucy who is, of course, delightful and funny while still delivering some touching moments with her kids and husband. The kids got a kick out of her slapstick moments--drunk Lucy never disappoints!

One of the unexpectedly best parts of this movie was my spirit character, Susan Beardsley, who makes sure to eat at every opportunity. I truly appreciate how vigilant they were with continuing this gag throughout the movie. This girl does not stop eating--even the rice she was supposed to be throwing at her father's wedding isn't safe from her insatiable appetite. She's amazing.

From the Kids

4 out of 5 stars - 10 year old girl

4.5 out of 5 stars - 5 year old girl (docked a half star because she took a break to play Monopoly Jr. with her brother and missed some parts of the movie.)

2.5 out of 5 stars - 8 year old boy

Kids' favorites moments:

When Lucy got drunk. I had to do a bit of explaining about alcohol and its effects and how much the kids were putting into her drink, but once it got going the kids all thought it was very funny.

When they got married.

The 10 year old like the drama of the daughter and her boyfriend fighting in the living room at the end. I don't know what this means for her teenage years.

The girls liked when they had the baby at the end and suggested that we have another baby. (NO)

Classic Movie History Lesson: How the West Was Won

I've been isolating in the house due to a bout with COVID and everyone else took all the streaming devices so I'm stuck watching broadcast television. Luckily, my cheap little antenna picks up the Movies! network where they're constantly showing good, but not too good old movies. Today I watched a film I hadn't seen before: How the West Was Won.

This isn't the kind of movie I would typically watch. I like musicals and comedies and dreamy leading men. But I was drawn in by the cast featuring Jimmy Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, Gregory Peck and many others. It's another one in that special genre where they packed in as many stars as humanly possible, leading to a very long movie in an effort to give everyone an appropriate amount of screen time.

It follows a family, and maybe some random other unrelated people, through the ups and downs of life in the west throughout the generations--finding husbands, the civil war, building railroads, finding husbands, fighting Indians, digging for gold, finding more husbands--all of the drama I'm sure actually came with life in the wild west.

Thelma Ritter appears for a hot second and, as one would expect, steals the show. Her and Debbie Reynold's usual spunky self make for a lot of fun as they travel west and look for husbands and money. I'm still a little upset that Debbie Reynolds did not choose to marry Robert Preston. He was clearly the more stable choice over gambling Gregory Peck!

As you can see, the quasi-romance provided the most entertainment for me. To be honest, I kind of stopped paying attention to the parts with wars and fighting Indians and trains and fighting on trains which made up the last half of the movie.

All in all if you like westerns, lots of random movie stars, and movies that attempt to teach you some history, this is a great option!

Old Movies With Kids: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

A couple weeks ago my husband bought this Willy Wonka game that we've really been enjoying. I highly recommend it especially if you have kids. It's been a great game that we can all enjoy together. All that to say, my kids have been asking to watch Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

I always kind of hated this movie. I don't remember the first time I saw it, but I think I was maybe jr. high age and I was not impressed. I always found it a bit disturbing and mostly avoided it.

So I was curious to see how I felt watching it now as an adult with my own kids. Basically, my feelings haven't changed. I don't like this movie. Everything is kind of depressing, the kids are so annoying, and Wonka is mentally unstable. His purple coat is cool, though.

I feel like there's supposed to be some great moral to the story but there are so many strange twists and turns that it gets lost. I will say, I forgot about the whole thing with the everlasting gobstopper and Charlie deciding not to steal it. I guess that was a good message. But it's just lost for me in all the weirdness. Trust me, I love a weird movie. But this one is just not doing it for me.

The hardest thing for me to look past is the wild changes in Wonka's personality. One minute he's nice, one minute he's a jerk, the next minute he's just plain crazy, then back to nice again, then he's depressed. It's just all over the place. Apparently there's a fan theory going around that he murdered all the children except Charlie and I totally buy it. He's definitely got serial killer vibes.

Also Grandpa Joe's been spending 20 years bed-ridden, wasting money on tobacco, making his daughter take care of him but then he's suddenly good to go walk around a chocolate factory for a day?? No.

The good news is my kids generally enjoyed it, but hopefully we can just play the game and never watch the movie again.

From the Kids

"Good" 3.5 stars out of 5 - 8 year old boy

4.5 stars out of 5. Only docked the .5 star because the oompa loompas looked too fake - 10 year old girl

20 stars out of 5 - 5 year old girl

Kids favorite moments:

When everything in his office was cut in half. (All three of the kids mentioned this. It really left an impression. I hope they don't start cutting all our stuff in half.)

Looking down on the town from the Wonkavator.

When Veronica fell into the egg chute and the dad followed her. 

When Charlie found the golden ticket

The songs (This is ridiculous. The songs are horrible.)

When Willy Wonka was drinking out of the flower cup and then took a bite.

Graceland

In honor of the new trailer for this upcoming Elvis movie, I thought I'd share some photos from my trip to Graceland several years ago. It was so delightful and I'm hoping to go back! My kids loved Elvis and it was so much fun to bring them there.

I'm not sure what I was expecting exactly, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. It was really interesting to learn about his life and some of the more personal things about him. I felt like I got to know him and gained a new appreciation for his talent and the ups and downs he went through.

Is it sad to end it all at his grave site? YES! But it's so special that it's all been preserved and well taken care of for so many of us to enjoy. 

 

The self-guided tour around the house was really informative and brought many interesting insights into Elvis's life there.

 

 

The jungle room. Elvis definitely had his own sense of style!

One of my favorite parts of the tour was seeing his airplane which was pretty fabulous. I thought this was a pretty nice bathroom for an airplane.

If you ever get a chance to go, I definitely recommend it. As for this movie, I usually steer clear of these kinds of things because they end up kind of depressing. Like the Judy movie I still haven't managed to watch. But Tom Hanks is in it which is usually a positive so I just might have to check it out!

The Quiet Man on the Big Screen

Anytime an old movie is shown on the big screen I'm pretty excited. I mean, it's great that I live in a time where I can stream pretty much anything I want, but it's also a bummer that I missed out on seeing so many great movies in the theater.

So I was pretty excited to find out they'll be showing The Quiet Man in theaters for St. Patrick's Day! I've written about The Quiet Man before and what a joy it is to watch the commentary version with Maureen O'Hara. She's one of my favorites and this movie is charming and delightful. I can't wait to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a trip to the theater!

Side note: From what I can tell, the newer blu-ray versions of The Quiet Man don't have the wonderful commentary with Maureen O'Hara which is a shame. I have this version which is quite old now but the commentary is a treasure if you're a fan of Maureen O'Hara! You can always check out my summary. It's basically all you need to know.

Old Movies with Kids: It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

To continue my kids' education in old movies, over the weekend we watched It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. I remember really liking this movie as a kid, but I hadn't seen it since then so I was excited to revisit it with my own kids.

Unfortunately, it wasn't as great as I remember. Some parts were a bit too slow and dragged on too long, but there was plenty of silliness and I think the kids enjoyed it.

The premise of the movie is pretty simple--a man gets into a serious car accident and as he's dying, he reveals to a group of strangers who came to his rescue that he buried $350k under a big W. What follows is 2-and-a-half hours of mishaps involving various modes of transportation and slightly mentally unstable people in often physically impossible situations as they all race to find the mysterious big W.

The number of cars running into things in this movie rivals any modern action movie.

This movie is part of a fad in the '60's and '70's that involved making movies featuring slightly washed-up A-list and B-list actors who must each require a certain amount of screen time because all of these movies are super long and I can't imagine any other reason that they need to be so long. This is a long movie, especially since it's basically the same gag over and over.

Surprisingly, my kids didn't complain once. They seemed to like it and got a kick out of some of the slapstick.

As a side note, if you don't want to sit through the whole movie, this Simpsons episode basically accomplishes the same effect in about 2 minutes.

From the Kids

"Good. Weird. Funny." - 10 year old girl

"Good" - 5 year old girl

"I hated everything, but I kinda liked it." - 8 year old boy

Kid's favorite moments:

When Jimmy Durante literally kicked the bucket. They were all very happy to learn this new phrase and have continued to laugh about it.

When everyone's freaking out when they landed the airplane at the airport.

The people trapped in the basement.

The mother in law.

When they all failed to notice the W.

Coming Soon: Cheaper By the Dozen Trifecta

Disney just released the trailer for their new remake of Cheaper By the Dozen, so I went to go look up the original version and to my horror, Google seems to think the 2003 version is the original. There's basically no mention of the ACTUAL original from 1950 starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy!

Obviously, this is an outrage. But either way, this gives me another great old movie to add to my list of films to watch with the kids. And even better, it gives us the opportunity for another trifecta viewing. Can't wait!

The Perfect Book to Learn from The Past

This is a bit of a shameless plug, but it fills well with the spirit of this blog. My mom and I put together this book as a fun way to connect with different generations talk about how things have changed over the decades. If you're older, fill it out yourself and share with the young people in your life. If you're younger, go through it with a grandparent or other family and friends to learn about them.

I always loved hearing about my grandma's life--her favorite old movies especially!--and I wish I had done something like this with her. She loved reminiscing with her grandkids and it would be wonderful to have all those conversations written down!

You can buy it on Amazon and have fun hearing stories and connecting with the past!

Old Movies With Kids: The Parent Trap

I'm on a mission to make sure my kids watch more old movies. I've failed miserably thus far, so I'm getting serious and starting a new series here as we watch old movies together.

I put together a list of ten movies I thought the kids might like and we conducted a very official vote that involved closing eyes and raising hands and peeking and arguing and more hand-raising. Here's what we ended up with:

As you can see, The Parent Trap and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World tied for the top spot, but since I failed to start the movie in a timely manner and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is 3 HOURS LONG, The Parent Trap won.

I've written about The Parent Trap before since it is definitely one of my favorites. Corny and silly and Maureen O'Hara and just a good time. I still enjoy this movie as much as I did as a child. Yes, the fact that they separated their twins at birth and broke all contact with them has become somewhat more disturbing as I've had my own kids and can't really imagine being OK with such a situation. But I will look past that and enjoy this incredibly optimistic take on the aftermath of such a ridiculous family arrangement.

Here's what got me on this viewing: I am now around the same age that I imagine the parents are supposed to be in the movie, but they look so old. Do I look that old? Hopefully not. Did people in the 60's just look older? Brian Keith and Maureen O'Hara were both around 40, but Brian Keith looks at least 50. Then there's Vicky. I would guess she's supposed to be around 25 and Joanna Barnes was 27 while filming the movie so not too far off, but she looks more like 35. Maybe it's just the hairstyle. But I'm assuming the reason they constantly talk about her young age is just to convince us that she's actually that young! And then Vicky's mom. She looks like she's 70 but I'm sure she's only supposed to be like 50.

Nonetheless, this made for a super fun family movie night! The characters are fun and surprisingly complex for a fairly silly family comedy. From a lame old mom's point of view, the kids in the movie are generally respectful to their parents and everyone is loving and caring, including the extended family/friend characters.  The relationship between the grandfather and the twins and Maggie is particularly sweet and a really nice addition to the story. The only time I felt the need to tell the kids to "not try this at home" was during the girls' pranks at the summer camp, which they, of course, thought was all pretty funny. And now for the kids' thoughts.

From the Kids

"Not very good." - 8 year old boy (who never likes anything and is not to be trusted)

"I liked it. Better than when I watched it before" - 10 year old girl

"I love it!! 100 good." - 5 year old girl

Kids' favorites moments:

When the cake falls on Miss Inch.

When the dad falls over the chair and in the lake.

"Let's Get Together"

The bear cubs licking Vicki's feet. (This caused a
huge fight over whether or not "honey bears" are a real thing. They're not.) 

 

What other classic films to my kids need to see? Tell me in the comments below!

Old Movies New to Streaming in February

Lately, my movie viewing choices are determined by my streaming services. It's easy--then I don't have to make decisions. Here are some new-to-streaming goodies to check out in Febraury.

Hulu:

• MCLINTOCK! (Producer’s Cut) - As previously discussed, it is currently streaming for free, but what's in this Producer's Cut? I'm going to find out.
  
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 60th Anniversary
  
• Terms of Endearment

 Amazon Prime:

• A Fistful of Dollars
• The Fly (1986)
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
  

 HBO Max

• West Side Story (1961)

Great Classic Films You Can Stream Right Now for FREE

These days, if I can't stream something, is it really worth watching?? Ok well, the answer is yes because, sadly, there are hardly any Judy Garland movies streaming. Nonetheless, there are some great movies that are streaming for FREE right now on apps like Pluto, Plex, Roku, and Hoopla (which requires a sign up through your local library). Some of them have ads but it's a small price to pay for a great movie without having to get up off the couch and put on a Blu Ray.

Here's a list of some of my favorites. If you're looking for more options, check out JustWatch.com where you can search and see what's available for free or through subscription services.

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Gaslight - Roku

Guys & Dolls - Roku, Pluto

It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - Roku, Pluto

Till the Clouds Roll By - Plex, Roku, Pluto - There's a painful lack of musicals streaming, so here's one if you need it.

Cactus Flower - Plex - I just love this wonderfully 60's movie. 

That Touch of Mink - Pluto - I love it. Doris Day, Cary Grant, sexual innuendo. Have you ever noticed that Doris Day tends to sing a weird dramatic song while she's considering whether or not to sleep with her leading man? She does.

Houseboat - Pluto - Truly one of my favorites!

McLintock! - Roku, Plex - I mean, McLintock. What can I say? It's a movie with an exclamation point in the title. Classic Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne shenanigans.

Rio Grande - Pluto - I'm not super into westerns, but ... Maureen O'Hara.

Indiscreet - Pluto

The Grass is Greener - Pluto - This may not be the most amazing movie but Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr are always delightful together and it has its moments.

Roman Holiday - Pluto - A handful of great Audrey Hepburn movies coming up!

Charade - Roku, Plex

Breakfast at Tiffany's - Hoopla

Sabrina (1954 and 1995!) - Pluto

The African Queen - Pluto - It's been years since I've seen this one. Might have to give it a watch.

To Catch A Thief - Pluto

The House of Usher - Pluto - If you're in the mood for some corny Vincent Price horror movies, you're in luck...

The House on Haunted Hill - Roku, Pluto

The Last Man on Earth - Roku, Pluto

The Raven - Pluto

The Pit and the Pendulum - Pluto

The Tingler - Roku, Pluto, Plex

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And some non-movie honorable mentions. The Roku channel has lots of great old TV shows if you need to binge:

Alfred Hitchcock Presents/Alfred Hitchcock Hour

The Doris Day Show

The Carol Burnett Show

The Dick Van Dyke Show

Classic Potty Mouths

If you like watching classic film stars swear, I've found the show for you.

I was perusing the Roku channel to see what gems I could find and it did not disappoint. I happened across Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored and thought, how "uncensored" could these old-timers be? The answer is, they liked to swear.

But seriously, this was super fun to watch. It's not too often we get to see Gary Cooper, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, and plenty of others breaking character and just being themselves.

It's definitely worth a watch and is free on the Roku Channel or the IMDb TV app.

I'm Baaaaaack

Ok, well the last time I posted anything here was in 2014. Honestly, I kind of forgot about this until Google told me I had some unclaimed ad money from this blog. Fabulous!

My posts before this were sporadic, but I'm determined to keep up with it this time. My love for old things hasn't changed!

So, what's been taking up my time the last 8 years? Mostly taking care of children. There are three of them. My oldest, Eliza, is 10. Did I name her after My Fair Lady. YES. Also, when we were dating my husband randomly told me he'd always liked the name Eliza and that's how I knew we were going to get married.

My son, Harrison, is 8. Is he named after Rex Harrison? YES. Is he named after Harrison Ford. YES. George Harrison? YES. Also, it's a family name. It's just the name that keeps on giving!

My second daughter, Amelia, is 5. She's not named after anything, we just thought it was cute.

What else has changed? I no longer have TCM and we stream everything. My old movie supply generally comes from the library. I mostly watch my kids watch Disney movies. Some of them are good. I have not done a great job of showing them classic films, but they do have an enduring love for Bye Bye Birdie and Elvis videos on Youtube. We've watched a handful of Judy Garland movies, most of which they are not super impressed with, but I will win them over yet!

Now that all the children are in school all day, I'm hoping I have time to write more. Perhaps this blog will start chronicling our adventures watching old movies as a family, or reacquainting myself with them on my own. Either way, I'm looking forward to getting back into it.